St. James the Apostle Roman Catholic Church

People light candles at a makeshift vigil near the adult education center Campus Risbergska school in Örebro, Sweden, on Feb. 5, 2025, one day after a shooting there left 11 people dead. / Credit: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images

Vatican City, Feb 5, 2025 / 13:15 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis on Wednesday expressed his spiritual closeness with the people of Sweden after at least 11 people were killed by a gunman at an adult school in Örebro on Feb. 4.

In a Feb. 5 telegram to Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, the Holy Father said he is deeply saddened by the incident, which has been described as the worst mass shooting in the country’s history, and is praying for all those affected.

“[Pope Francis] offers prayer for the repose of the souls of those who have died, for the consolation of their grieving families and friends, and for the speedy recovery of the injured,” the telegram reads.

“At this difficult time for the nation, His Holiness invokes upon the Swedish people Almighty God’s gifts of unity and peace,” the papal message concludes.

The suspected gunman, who has not been named by police, is among the 11 killed at the Risbergska School for adults. The school offers vocational training courses and Swedish language classes for men and women who were unable to complete their high school education.

According to ​​Sveriges Television, local authorities have not yet confirmed the number of injured people and warned that the death toll could rise.

Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Sweden issued a statement on Wednesday mourning the tragedy: “Together with all of Sweden, we Catholics mourn the victims of the violent incident in Örebro, and we pray for them. Violence and shootings only seem to increase.”

Though shootings in Sweden are rare, police data shows the number of shootings in the country has gone up. To date, the highest number of shootings was in 2022 when 391 shootings took place, killing 62 and injuring an additional 107 people, according to Al Jazeera.

St. Eskil’s Catholic Parish in Örebro opened Wednesday afternoon for those who wanted to light candles, attend Mass, or pray for the city and those affected by the deadly shooting.

All Catholic churches in Sweden will pray for mercy for all the victims at Feb. 9 Sunday Mass celebrations, according to Arborelius’ statement.

France’s Prime Minister Francois Bayrou attends a session of questions to the government at the National Assembly, France’s lower house of Parliament, in Paris on Feb. 4, 2025. / Credit: ALAIN JOCARD/AFP via Getty Images

Paris, France, Feb 5, 2025 / 12:40 pm (CNA).

French Prime Minister François Bayrou’s decision to split the controversial “end of life” bill in two — to separate the issue of “active assistance in dying” from that of palliative, which was announced Jan. 21 — has earned him the wrath of his own party officials, who have suggested his judgment has been clouded by his Catholic convictions.

Opponents of the original bill, whose debates were interrupted by the dissolution of the National Assembly last June, saw it, on the contrary, as a courageous choice that endeavors to respect the plurality of parliamentary opinions on these two centrally important social issues.

For President Emmanuel Macron, this bill was intended to be one of the flagship societal measures of his second term in office — along with the inclusion of the right to abortion in the French Constitution, formalized in March 2024 — to satisfy his progressive electoral base, largely in favor of euthanasia. 

The bill on “accompanying the sick and the end of life,” initially presented to the Council of Ministers on April 10, 2024, and then to the National Assembly on May 27, encompassed two aspects: palliative care and support for the sick, and active assistance in dying — i.e., euthanasia and assisted suicide — for incurable illnesses and/or pain that cannot be relieved. 

In particular, the text provided for the authorization of the provision to “a person who so requests a lethal substance, for self-administration or, if unable to do so, to be administered by a doctor, a nurse, a relative, or a voluntary person of his or her choice.” 

“The bill debated before the dissolution would have made France one of the most extreme legislations in the world, by providing for the lethal act to be carried out by a close relative, exerting strong coercion on medical staff and providing for a procedure conducive to abuses and drifts,” Laurent Frémont, lecturer at Sciences Po Paris and co-founder of the Démocratie, éthique et solidarités association, told CNA. 

Indeed, while the bill provided for a conscience clause for health care professionals, it did not apply to pharmacists, nor did it include any collective dimension for a health care service or establishment.  

While the governmental instability that followed the June 9 European elections and the dissolution of the National Assembly bought time for opponents of active aid in dying, its promoters are seeking to make up for lost time by making it a political priority. Thus, since early November 2024, National Assembly President Yaël Braun-Pivet has been urging the government to resume discussions on the bill no later than early February. 

In taking up this request, Bayrou, prime minister since Dec. 13, 2024, nevertheless surprised his own political allies by announcing, at the end of January, that the original end-of-life text would finally be split into two. Parliamentary debates will therefore revolve around two separate bills, the first on palliative care, the second on active assistance in dying.  

“We need to be able to vote on each of these two texts in a different way,” the centrist leader explained at the time of his announcement, highlighting that he had no intention of delaying the examination of the bill in Parliament.  

This decision was welcomed by critics of the initial project, who saw a blatant antinomy between the two parts of the bill.

“Since the beginning of debates on the subject, Emmanuel Macron has attempted a particularly audacious ‘en même temps’ [‘at the same time’ — an expression often used by the French president] by announcing the advent of a ‘French end-of-life model’ based on both palliative care and induced death,” Frémont said.

“There can be no continuum between these two radically opposed practices. Induced death cannot be care, because it interrupts care by eliminating the person being cared for. Despite strong opposition from caregivers, this confusion was maintained during the debates that took place before the dissolution.”

The announcement also triggered an outcry among proponents of active aid in dying, who saw it as an attempt to postpone the debate indefinitely. They also pointed to the religious convictions of Bayrou, who has never made a secret of his Catholic faith.

“The prime minister is in the midst of a mystical enlightenment,” wrote the French Association for the Right to Die with Dignity in a press release, comparing him to “the preacher of a religious congregation” and inviting him to “set aside his religious beliefs and finally take an interest in the general interest of the French people.” 

More nuanced, political figures in the presidential camp nonetheless considered that the politician’s judgment was clouded by his personal convictions, despite the fact that both he and his entourage insisted to the contrary. 

For columnist Guillaume Tabard, Bayrou has above all shown political astuteness by evading pressure from the president of the National Assembly and by aiming “to de-mine a heated subject without burying it.”  

“By promising to separate the two subjects,” Frémont said, “François Bayrou is showing that he has grasped what is at stake in this debate. This will ensure that palliative care is not used as an excuse to legalize administered death in France.” 

Pope Francis greets pilgrims gathered for his Wednesday general audience on Feb. 5, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Feb 5, 2025 / 09:40 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Wednesday continued his catechesis on “Jesus Christ Our Hope,” saying love is the force that compels people, including the Blessed Virgin Mary, to share their faith in God with others. 

Unable to read his prepared catechesis due to a cold, the Holy Father asked an aide to read his reflection on St. Luke’s Gospel account of the Visitation at his Feb. 5 general audience held inside the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall.

“The Virgin Mary visits St. Elizabeth, but it is above all Jesus, in his mother’s womb, who visits his people (cf. Lk 1:68),” he said. “Mary gets up and sets out on a journey, like all those who are called to in the Bible.”

During the audience, the pope explained that the “unlimited readiness” of the men and women of the Bible is “the only act” that enabled them to respond to God’s call, particularly during times of uncertainty. 

“This young daughter of Israel does not choose to protect herself from the world,” he said. “She does not fear dangers and the judgments of others but goes out toward other people.”

Highlighting the need for people to know and feel loved by God, the 88-year-old pope encouraged Christians to be open to receiving God’s love, “a force that sets love in motion,” and, like the Mother of God, passing it on to others.

“Mary feels the push of this love and goes to help a woman who is her relative but also an elderly woman who, after a long wait, is welcoming an unhoped-for pregnancy, difficult to deal with at her age,” he said.

“But the Virgin also goes to Elizabeth to share her faith in the God of the impossible and her hope in the fulfillment of his promises,” he continued.

The Holy Father also praised the impact of Mary’s humility expressed in her hymn of praise, the Magnificat, in salvation history.

“Mary does not want to sing ‘out of the choir’ but to tune in with the forefathers,” he told pilgrims. “Mary sings of the grace of the past, but she is the woman of the present who carries the future in her womb.”

After asking pilgrims at the Vatican to pray for peace in Ukraine and for all countries at war, the Holy Father invited his listeners to also welcome Mary into their lives and to ask “for the grace to be able to wait for the fulfillment of every one of his promises.”

“By following her example, may we all discover that every soul that believes and hopes conceives and begets the Word of God,” he said.

Bishop Santiago Gómez Sierra visits St. Paul Parish in the Diocese of Huelva, Spain, in 2022. / Credit: Diocese of Huelva, Spain

Madrid, Spain, Feb 5, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Diocese of Huelva in Spain has “prohibited and disavowed” a planned preparation course for the “blessing of same-sex couples or couples in an irregular situation” that was to be held at one of its parishes. The diocese said it learned about the course through the media.

In a brief statement, the diocese explained that “this way of accompanying Christian faithful who are in such situations does not correspond with the teaching of Pope Francis nor with the pastoral practice of the Church.”

The text concludes by stating that “the Diocese of Huelva provides pastoral accompaniment for all people, offering opportunities for listening, formation, and growth in faith and always in accordance with the teachings of the Church.”

St. Paul Parish, the planned venue for the course, has canceled the event. On its website, the original information was replaced with a message stating: “For reasons beyond our control, we have to cancel this accompaniment.”

The message is illustrated with a drawing of a lamb with the rainbow colors of the LGBT flag next to a shepherd and the message: “I was not lost, they told me I was not welcome.”

A local newspaper, Huelva24, shared a promotional poster for the course that inaccurately quotes the December 2023 Vatican declaration Fiducia Supplicans. The poster features a line that is not in the declaration itself, stating that “the blessing of couples in irregular situations and of same-sex couples is possible ... so that human relationships can mature and grow in fidelity to the Gospel message.”

The sentence “it is possible to bless couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples” does not appear in the text of Fiducia Supplicans published by the Vatican. It does appear, however, with this formulation: “Within the horizon outlined here appears the possibility of blessings for couples in irregular situations and for couples of the same sex.”

Regarding the second part, the original Vatican document states that the blessings are for such couples “that they may be freed from their imperfections and frailties, and that they may express themselves in the ever-increasing dimension of the divine love.” 

The declaration Fiducia Supplicans sparked controversy in the Catholic Church by allowing pastoral blessings for couples in irregular situations, including same-sex couples, without altering the doctrine on sacramental marriage.

The controversy arose from divergent interpretations: While some sectors of the Church saw it as a gesture of mercy to address complex realities, other bishops and faithful warned of the risk of doctrinal confusion, fearing that it would be perceived as an implicit validation of unions contrary to traditional teaching.

In May 2024, the bishop of Plasencia in Spain, Ernesto Jesús Brotons, admonished a priest for blessing a homosexual couple in such a way that it caused “scandal” and “confusion.” He had situated the pair in front of the altar similar to a bride and groom and was wearing an alb and red stole.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

This painting of St. Peter visiting St. Agatha was created by Federico Zuccari between 1597 and 1599 for the altar of Sant’Agata in the Milan Cathedral. It was directly commissioned by Milan native Federico Borromeo, a cousin of St. Charles Borromeo. / Credit: Rachel Thomas

ACI Prensa Staff, Feb 5, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Every Feb. 5, the Church remembers St. Agatha of Catania, a young woman who consecrated her virginity to God and died a martyr’s death during the persecution of the Roman Emperor Decius in the third century.

Agatha was born in Catania, Sicily, in southern Italy, around the year 230. Like many women of her time, she decided to consecrate her life to Jesus Christ by remaining a virgin.

In the days of the persecution of Decius, the proconsul Quintianus, the governor of Sicily, fell in love with Agatha and sought her in marriage. However, the young woman rejected each of his proposals. 

The constant refusals greatly annoyed the proconsul, who ordered her to be taken to a brothel as punishment. Contrary to what Quintianus expected, in that sad place, Agatha managed to avoid any occasion that could jeopardize the promise she had made to the Lord. And, as if this were not enough, many women subjected to that world that treated them as merchandise converted to Christ. 

Quintianus then ordered Agatha to be subjected to a series of taunts and insults, and then ordered her to be tortured. Her executioners, in a fit of insanity, cut off her breasts. A certain hagiography preserves her words in the face of such wickedness: “Cruel tyrant, are you not ashamed to torture in a woman the same breast which fed you as a child?”

Tradition has it that Agatha miraculously survived the horrors and cruelties committed against her, and during the night while she was bleeding to death, St. Peter the Apostle appeared to her to heal her wounds and encourage her to remain steadfast.

At dawn, when the guards realized that the woman had recovered, the executioners resumed the tortures and Agatha gave up her life. It was the fifth day of the second month of the year 251.

One year after the martyrdom of St. Agatha, the volcano Etna erupted. The lava that spread along the slopes of the volcano threatened to destroy Catania. Then, some of its inhabitants who remembered the young martyr asked for her intercession to stop the fury of nature. 

Miraculously, the sea of burning rock and ash that began to move never reached the city. In gratitude, Catania and other surrounding towns chose Agatha as their patron saint.

Today, devotees of St. Agatha ask her to intercede for women who have complicated childbirths or problems with lactation. She is also invoked by those who suffer from breast ailments. She is considered the protector of women and patron saint of nurses.

In traditional iconography, St. Agatha is usually shown with the palm of martyrdom, the palm of victory, in her hand; or she is holding the tray on which her breasts were placed.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.

The coliseum style church at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs. / Credit: Friends of Our Lady of Martyrs

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 4, 2025 / 17:45 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has confirmed that the Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine, which encompasses the village where Sts. Isaac Jogues, René Goupil, and Jean de Lalande were martyred and where St. Kateri Tekakwitha was born, has officially been named a national shrine.

On Jan. 27 the USCCB informed Friends of Our Lady of Martyrs, the nonprofit corporation that owns the shrine, that it could carry the “national” designation after requesting the title in August 2024. 

The shrine’s chairman, Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger of Albany, said in a statement: “We are delighted that the bishops have confirmed what the faithful have long instinctually known: The National Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs is our home for the cultivation of holiness here in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.”

The shrine received its national title after bishops approved that it aligns with the USCCB’s standards, “Norms for the Designation of National Shrines,” including being “dedicated to promoting the faith of the pilgrims by centering on a mystery of the Catholic faith, a devotion based on authentic Church tradition, revelations recognized by the Church, or the lives of those in the Church’s calendar of saints.”

Monsignor Roger Landry, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies and a board member of Friends of Our Lady of Martyrs, said the shrine is a place where all Catholics are confirmed in the missionary dimension of the Christian life. 

“As Pope Francis repeatedly teaches us, we Catholics do not just have a mission but are a mission. We have been entrusted by Jesus Christ with the completion of his saving mission on earth,” Landry said in a statement. 

Because of its association with four great saints and heroes of the faith, Landry said the shrine “probably is, after the tabernacles that adorn our churches and the souls of newly baptized babies, the holiest place for Catholics in the country.”

For her part, Julie Baaki, executive director of the shrine, commented that “our national shrine is a haven where pilgrims come to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters throughout the world as well as for growth in courage for any trials we face as we try to live lives of virtue, grow in faith, and try to pass it along.”  

The church on the grounds of the shrine was built in 1930 and can seat over 8,000 people, the largest capacity of any church building in the Western Hemisphere. The National Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs will begin its 2025 season on May 3 and will remain open through the feast day of the North American martyrs on Oct. 19.

Credit: Bill Chizek/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Feb 4, 2025 / 17:05 pm (CNA).

Tennessee Catholic bishops on Monday lauded the passage of legislation establishing Tennessee’s first-ever universal school choice program, which is set to fund more than 20,000 scholarships to private schools.

Gov. Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Act of 2025, which was passed on Jan. 30, will fund 20,000 scholarships, half of which are income-restricted. The passage of the act shortly followed the Trump-Vance administration’s executive order last week instructing federal agencies to expand school choice.

The Education Freedom Act provides $7,000 scholarships to enable students to attend private schools while also increasing funding for public schools. It sets aside bonuses to be awarded to public school teachers for excellence, increases K–12 facilities funding, and the legislation promises that school district funding won’t decrease due to disenrollment.

The Tennessee Catholic Conference applauded the Education Freedom Act in a Feb. 3 statement.

“This landmark legislation reflects our shared commitment to ensuring families that every child, regardless of background, has access to an education that nurtures their potential and supports their families’ unique needs,” the statement read. “In addition to supporting family choice in education, the new law includes provisions to support public schools across the state with significant funding for facility maintenance and expansion as well as financial bonuses for public school teachers.”

The act sets aside nearly $146 million for the Education Freedom Scholarships as well as a little more than $198 million for teacher bonuses. It also sets aside $77 million in funding for K–12 facilities and $2.7 million for administration costs.

The program builds off of a previous pilot program in which Tennessee had expanded school choice via an education savings account pilot program in several counties.

“We thank Gov. Bill Lee for his leadership in the area of family choice in education,” the statement continued. “The education scholarships already in place in Memphis, Chattanooga, and Nashville are making progress educating students looking for opportunities not available in public schools. This new program will make options available across the state.”

The expanded school choice program will kick off in the 2025-2026 school year with 20,000 scholarships available for Tennessee students. Half of the vouchers are set aside for students with disabilities, students who are already eligible for the existing ESA program, and eligible families whose household incomes are under the threshold of $173,000 for a family of four. 

In the 2026-2027 school year, the bill would remove these income restrictions altogether, providing universal eligibility for all Tennessee students, but would prioritize currently enrolled students, low-income students, and public school students. The program will expand to meet demand, adding 5,000 universal eligibility scholarships each year that three-quarters of the available scholarships are awarded. Scholarships are applied to private school tuition and fees first, but the remaining funds may be used for other approved education-related expenses. 

Tennessee Rep. John Ray Clemmons, an outspoken opponent of the act, criticized the program, saying it was designed to “primarily benefit wealthy families.”

But Lee said he believes in increasing access to private schools while improving public schools. 

“I’ve long believed we can have the best public schools and give parents a choice in their child’s education, regardless of income or zip code,” Lee said in a Jan. 30 statement. 

Notably, the act does not require a private school “to alter its creed, practices, admission policies, hiring policies, or curriculum in order to accept recipients” of the scholarships. 

The legislation “does not expand the regulatory authority of this state” to further restrict private schools beyond what is required for the program to function. This is especially important for Catholic schools that often maintain archdiocesan-level requirements for their policies. 

For instance, Catholic preschools in Colorado took legal action after they were unable to participate in Colorado’s Universal Preschool program due to the program’s policy requirements.

The Tennessee Catholic Conference noted that “Catholic schools have long been dedicated to serving the common good by providing an education that values not only academic excellence but also the holistic development of students.” 

“Rooted in faith and guided by the principles of compassion, justice, and respect for human dignity, Catholic schools focus on the needs of students and families, striving to form individuals who will contribute positively to society,” the statement continued.

“The Education Freedom Act aligns with our mission to create an environment where all children can thrive, offering families more flexibility and access to the educational opportunities that best fit their values and aspirations,” the statement read. “We believe this law will help foster a more inclusive and equitable educational landscape, empowering parents to make choices that reflect their children’s needs and supporting schools in their efforts to provide the highest quality of education.”

“As Catholic schools continue to serve Tennessee communities, we remain steadfast in our commitment to the common good, working together with families, educators, and policymakers to ensure a future where every child can succeed in both faith and learning,” the conference concluded.

Panelists at the International Religious Freedom Summit discuss religious freedom hopes for President Donald Trump’s second term on Feb. 4, 2025. From left to right: Moderator Brett Scharffs, director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University. Panelists: David Beasley, former executive director of the United Nations’ World Food Programme (2017-2023); Annie Boyajian, co-president of Freedom House; Scott Flipse, director of policy and media relations for the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the International Religious Freedom Summit

Washington D.C., Feb 4, 2025 / 16:25 pm (CNA).

Two weeks into Donald Trump’s second presidency, religious freedom advocates are urging the new administration to prioritize the promotion of religious liberty globally in its foreign policy agenda over the next four years.

The International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit kicked off Tuesday morning in Washington, D.C., with a panel discussion on how foreign aid, deterrence measures, and strong relations with foreign leaders can promote peace, security, and religious freedom throughout the world.

Several hundred people from dozens of countries who represent many religions are attending the conference to discuss ways in which faith leaders, lawmakers, and others can end religious persecution. 

The conference’s speakers will include Vice President JD Vance, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, faith leaders from various religions, and religious freedom advocates. 

The major faiths represented at the conference include Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism. Several smaller faiths who face persecution, including members of the Baha’i faith, the Yazidi faith, and the Falun Gong religious movement, also have a strong presence at the summit.

“[We are at] a moment of tremendous challenge and a moment of tremendous opportunity,” Annie Boyajian, the co-president of the human rights group Freedom House, said during the opening panel.

Boyajian was joined on the stage by Scott Flipse, the director of policy and media relations for the Congressional Executive Commission on China, and David Beasley, the former director of the United Nations’ World Food Programme.

Boyajian expressed cautious optimism about the new administration, saying Trump “did a tremendous job” on religious freedom during his first term as president. However, she also conveyed her concerns about the White House freezing grant programs from the Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

“A lot of programs benefiting religious freedom and folks of all faiths have been … put on hold,” Boyajian said.

Boyajian urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to “not to throw the baby out with the bathwater” when reassessing State Department grants and to expedite the review of paused grants that have religious liberty implications, emphasizing: “Lives really are on the line.”

“It is incumbent on us to help protect others who are targeted,” she said.

During the panel discussion, Flipse, the panel’s China expert, shared his confidence in Trump’s pursuit to “be a peacemaker” and argued that the defense of religious liberty is directly connected to the president’s security and peacemaking goals.

“[Creating] social stability between religious groups in places where there is conflict,” he said, helps “create paths for peace.”

Flipse underlined the importance of staffing the State Department, emphasizing “getting people into positions who know what your priorities are … [and] what common sense in foreign policy is going to look like.”

Similarly, Beasley, of the U.N.’s World Food Programme, said officials “can’t just come down with a hammer” when negotiating with foreign leaders who restrict religious liberty, adding: “You’ve got to have time to touch the heart.”

Beasley spoke about his negotiations with Taliban leaders in Afghanistan and Houthi leaders in Yemen when leading the World Food Programme, saying many of those leaders are “victims of their own propaganda a lot of the times” but that “respecting [their] religion” and appealing to religious leaders in their faith to discourage religious persecution is an effective strategy. 

“I can’t tell you how many problems we’ve solved by just respecting someone else [and by giving] them a chance to be heard,” Beasley said. 

However, he also said using deterrents like the threat of cutting off aid can also push leaders to scale back religious liberty persecution.

The IRF Summit gathers representatives from some 90 U.S. and international partner organizations, including The Catholic University of America, the Family Research Council, Alliance Defending Freedom International, and In Defense of Christians.

In conjunction with the 2025 summit, the partners also published a seven-page paper that listed some of the organizers’ top priorities for the Trump administration.

They urged the administration to guarantee humanitarian funds are targeted toward religious communities under persecution and to restore the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program with a prioritization for religious minorities. They also requested that the White House use foreign aid to promote religious freedom and impose stronger sanctions on governments that violate religious liberty.

The organizations also jointly called on the Trump administration to closely watch religious freedom in Syria as the country establishes its new government after rebels ousted former President Bashar al-Assad. They also urged close monitoring of religious freedom in Iran.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention site changed the title of an article called “Safer Food Choices for Pregnant People” to “Safer Food Choices for Pregnant Women.” / Credit: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 4, 2025 / 15:55 pm (CNA).

Many federal government agencies have changed or removed transgender wording on their websites to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order on gender ideology.

Trump issued the order, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” on his first day in office. According to the White House, the policies are meant to “defend women’s rights and protect freedom of conscience by using clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female and men are biologically male.”

The order specified: “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.” 

Since the order was issued multiple federal agencies have altered their websites. Here’s a look at some of the changes in website messaging since Trump took office.

The U.S. Department of State

A U.S. Department of State webpage offering travel advisories changed a listing from “LGBTGIA+ Travel Information” to “LGB Travel Information.” 

The U.S. Department of State also removed the “X” gender marker on all consular forms, making it only possible to select “male” or “female.”

The website’s change coincides with a Trump administration directive to no longer process passport applications submitted using the “X” option.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website includes a notice that it is being “modified to comply with President Trump’s executive orders.” 

The site renamed an article called “Safer Food Choices for Pregnant People,” to “Safer Food Choices for Pregnant Women.”

The CDC also removed data specific to LGBT and gender ideology. This included a “fast facts” page with information regarding HIV among transgender people. The website also took down contraceptive guidance pages for health care providers. 

The Federal Bureau of Prisons 

The Federal Bureau of Prisons removed its “Transgender Offender Manual,” which explained how the bureau provided “gender-affirming services to transgender individuals.”

A search on its website now alerts users: “This content is temporarily unavailable as we implement the executive order on ‘Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.’”

The U.S. Census Bureau

The U.S. Census Bureau’s webpage on “Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity” has been removed. Other pages on its website, including “Mental Health Struggles Higher Among LGBT Adults Than Non-LGBT Adults in All Age Groups,” are also not currently active. According to site archives, both pages were available last week. 

New Orleans saints NFL club logo. / Credit: dean bertoncelj/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Feb 4, 2025 / 15:25 pm (CNA).

The New Orleans Saints NFL team is denying that any members of its organization had input into, or oversight of, a list of credibly accused clergy in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, with the denial coming amid a media controversy over the football team’s role in helping the archdiocese manage the fallout from the abuse scandal.

A media firestorm erupted this week after leaked emails showed the extent of the Saints’ involvement in offering the archdiocese public relations help amid its reckoning with the clergy abuse crisis.

Saints owner Gayle Benson, herself a Catholic, had previously acknowledged in 2020 that team spokesman Greg Bensel had helped the archdiocese prepare for the 2018 release of its credibly accused clergy list. 

Benson said at the time that Bensel had urged the archdiocese to “be honest, complete, and transparent” and “own the past wrongs and find a solution to correct them,” among other suggestions. 

The Saints were “proud of the role we played and yes, in hindsight, we would help again to assist the archdiocese” in responding to the abuse crisis, Benson wrote in 2020. 

Team stands by assistance amid email leak

Multiple news outlets this week reported that they had obtained emails showing the extent of the Saints’ work with the archdiocese.

The New York Times reported on Monday that it had acquired “more than 300 emails” showing “the Saints and the archdiocese working together to temper the fallout from a flood of sexual abuse accusations made against priests and Church employees.”

In a lengthy statement released on Saturday ahead of the news reports, James Gulotta — a senior lawyer with the Louisiana law firm Stone Pigman — said “nothing in the leaked emails” contradicts earlier statements from the football team or Benson. 

“First and foremost, no member of the Saints organization condones or wants to cover up the abuse that occurred in the Archdiocese of New Orleans,” the statement said, calling the abuse “a terrible fact.”

Benson’s support for the Church is “unwavering,” the statement said, though she “has no intention of donating funds to the archdiocese to pay for settlements with abuse victims and she has not done so.”

The emails reportedly show Bensel working to ensure “positive media coverage” for the archdiocese amid the release of the list, including writing talking points for Archbishop Gregory Aymond. 

Media reports also said the leaked emails showed Bensel had at one point communicated with New Orleans District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro. Bensel allegedly indicated that the exchange with Cannizzaro “allowed us to take certain people off the list.”

In the Saturday statement, Gulotta said that “no Saints employee had any responsibility for adding or removing any names from [the credibly accused clergy] list or any supplemental list.” 

“Nor did any Saints employee offer any input, suggestions, or opinions as to who should be included or omitted from any such lists,” the statement said. “Any suggestion that any Saints employee had any role in removing anyone from the archdiocese’s published lists of credibly-accused clergy is categorically false.”

Bensel “did not participate in the conversation with Mr. Cannizzaro,” the statement continued, and the spokesman “has no firsthand knowledge of what was said by anyone during the conversation or in any communication between the archdiocese and the district attorney’s office.”

The Saturday release echoes Benson’s statement from 2020 in which she asserted that “no one associated with our organizations made recommendations or had input on the individual names of those disclosed on the list.”

The New Orleans Archdiocese has been dealing with fallout from the abuse crisis for years. The archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020, with Aymond pointing to financial pressure from clergy sex abuse claims as the driving force behind the reorganization.

In 2023 the archdiocese said it would ask “parishes, schools, and ministries” for monetary contributions in order to protect diocesan assets during the bankruptcy proceedings.

In November 2024, the archdiocese said it would release personnel files of priests accused of sexual abuse amid ongoing negotiations of a major abuse settlement there. 

Last September, the archdiocese had proposed a bankruptcy settlement as part of its plan for addressing sexual abuse by clergy, offering a $62.5 million payout to victims. The abuse survivors have requested approximately $1 billion.